I have decided as a personal challenge to run the BUPA Great South Run in Portsmouth and along the way hopefully make a wee bit of money for a great cause!

Families Activity Breaks (FAB) is a non-public funded, tri Service initiative in partnership with YHA (England & Wales) Ltd., providing fun and challenging activity holidays around the UK for bereaved Military families.

If your child is aged up to 19 years old and has suffered the loss of a loved one who was serving in the Armed Forces, then you may be eligible for a FAB holiday. The holidays offer an adventure for all the family and a welcome break to meet and socialise with others who have experienced a similar loss. A loved one can mean a parent, a step parent, or a childs legal guardian, carer or sibling.

FAB was originally conceived in early 2008, and run as a highly successful pilot in the summer of 2009 where 24 families attended at two locations, Coverack in Cornwall and Whitby in North Yorkshire. In 2010 we increased this to 50 families and it is our intention to further increase this to 60 families throughout 2011.

FAB is staffed by volunteers from the Armed Forces and Defence civilians, helping as mentors, lending a helping hand or simply being someone to talk to. They are all trained by the Candle Project, a bereavement counselling service run by St Christophers Hospice, London, who specialise in supporting children and young adults facing bereavement.